GAME NOTES: Injuries in the CFL are starting to mount and no team knows this
better than the Calgary Stampeders who are being forced to go without their
starting quarterback for the rest of the season. The Stamps get their first
full taste of life without Drew Tate as they host the undefeated Saskatchewan
Roughriders at McMahon Stadium on Thursday night.

Several teams have suffered significant injuries mere weeks into the season,
and the Stamps are no different with Tate electing to undergo surgery on his
non-throwing (left) shoulder which was dislocated in the meeting with Toronto
on July 7. As a result, Tate is expected to miss the remainder of the season
and that leaves Kevin Glenn heading up the depth chart for a team that is 1-2
for the first time since 2009.

Glenn nearly guided the Stampeders to a victory over Montreal on the road last
week, but a late flurry by the Alouettes sent Calgary packing in a 33-32 loss.
Glenn converted 26-of-36 passes for 267 yards and was intercepted once. Backup
quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell registered a pair of one-yard TD runs for a team
that has scored at least 32 points in each game thus far, and leads the league
in scoring with 35.3 ppg.

Unfortunately, even though Calgary has been able to pile up the points, the
defense has been mediocre at best. If not for the mere 10 points allowed to
Montreal in the season opener, the numbers would appear even more dismal for
the group after three weeks of action.

Saskatchewan, the last of the unbeatens after three weeks of action, captured
a narrow 23-20 win over visiting British Columbia last Saturday. The offense
for the Roughriders struggled to produce 266 yards overall and needed the help
from the special teams unit to get them over the hump.

Kicker Chris Milo accounted for 11 points, converting three field goals and a
pair of extra points, while Tristan Jackson electrified the crowd with a
thrilling 129-yard missed field goal return for a touchdown which proved to be
the difference in the outcome.

Quarterback Darian Durant hit on 18-of-28 passes for 172 yards and Kory Sheets
accounted for the only other major for the team, that coming on a one-yard run
in the second quarter, as he tallied a game-high 76 yards on 15 attempts for
the hosts.

Durant hasn't been stealing the spotlight in the early going, but he's not
making costly mistakes either. Through three games he is the only regular
starter who has yet to throw an interception and his 106.0 efficiency rating
is second only to Montreal's Anthony Calvillo. Because Durant has been cautious
with the ball, the Riders have the best turnover margin in the league with a
plus-eight, and everyone will tell you that turnovers can make or break a team
depending on which side of that line they fall on.

Another positive for Saskatchewan that might not be jumping off the stat sheet
is the fact that it is the least-penalized team at the moment with just 19
infractions, amounting to a loss of only 140 yards. No other club is
surrendering fewer than 71 yards per game in penalties heading into the fourth
week of the season.

Even though Glenn is one of the more accurate passers in the league with 75.9
percent success, the Stamps as a whole are one of the weaker teams in terms of
turnovers at the moment, tied for sixth in the CFL at minus-four in the
department. While the team gives the ball away a bit too frequently, it is
hard to argue with a squad that is generating so many points per contest.

Glenn has to continue to play error-free football because even though Calgary
is comfortable as the team with the second-most rushing attempts in the league
(64), it is getting less-than-average results with just 4.3 yards per attempt,
and that's no way to take the pressure off the quarterback.

Calgary swept the Riders in 2011, winning all four games played between the
two. Calgary won the two games at McMahon by scores of 40-3 in Week 14 and
25-13 three weeks later. Saskatchewan actually went winless against the West in
2011, losing all 10 games played within the division, but already the club has
two wins in as many opportunities versus the division this year.

There are times when it appears the Roughriders are getting the job done with
smoke and mirrors, but by leading the league in points allowed (12.3 ppg),
Saskatchewan is definitely doing something right and probably will again this
week as it attacks a Calgary offense which is having to reorganize.